User blog:Varadu/A Basic Guide to Editing in Source Mode
The following is a comprehensive guide to editing Moon Guard Wiki pages via the source editor in a universal language called wikitext. Editing with the source editor, opposed to the visual editor, can allow you to manipulate pages easier and quicker once you've gotten the hang of it. In this guide, I'll be covering all of the main aspects of wikitext. Opening the Source Editor There are two main "editors" on Wikia, both of which allowing source mode editing; the visual editor, which is default, and the classic editor. I recommend the classic editor for source mode editing because it's better designed for it. The visual editor's source mode is more-so designed for quick tweaks while mainly editing a page in visual mode. Text Formatting To place raw text on a page with wikitext, you do just that: type raw text. To type formatted text, you'll need a small bit of code. The three basic text formats are italics, bold, and bold-italics. Bold is usually used at the start of pages in the first reference of the page title and any alternate names of what that is. Italics are usually used for speech emphasis (such as when writing dialogue) or the titles of certain things, such as vessels, books, plays, and song titles. Bold-italics are used when a combination thereof is needed, like when writing an article about a book. To type bold text, simple add three apostrophes before and after the text you want to bold. For italics, use two apostrophes, and for bold-italics, five apostrophes. Line Breaks In wikitext, a single line break via the enter key will not change anything; the text will simply continue on the same line. To make a new paragraph, you will need to do a double space. However, to force a new line without making a paragraph break, you can use the "break" tag, . Wikilinks To link to another page on the Moon Guard Wiki that has the same name as the text you're linking, simply add two square brackets before and after the text. However, if you want to link text to a page that does not have the same name as the text it's being linked from, use a pipe (|) after the page name, enter the text you wish to be the link, and then add the final square brackets. If you want to link to a page on another Wikia wiki, use w:c:wikiname:Article name as the article name. Wikipedia is also supported; simply use wikipedia:Article name. The pipe can still be used on both and should be because otherwise it will show the special code and not just the article name. Lastly, to link to somewhere outside of the Moon Guard Wiki, another Wikia wiki, or Wikipedia, you can use the external link feature. This involves one square bracket on either side of the link, which is, instead of an article name, the full address of the webpage. You can still link to alternate text as well, but instead of a pipe, use a space. Headings A vital part of any structured wiki article is headings, of which there are six sizes. To make headings in source mode, simply add as many equal signs in either side of the text you want to be a heading as the heading is. For example, to make a heading 3, you would use three equal signs on either sides of the text. For heading 1, typically a special line is used under it; this type of line is created via four dashes (----). Lists There are two types of lists and are very simple to use in wikitext: bulleted and numbered list. Bullet-points are created by an asterix (*) and numbered points are created by a pound sign (#). To create nested points, simply use a double, triple, etc asterix or pound sign. List items should be separated by a single space and with no break tag. Numbered and bullet-points cannot be used in the same list. Images To add images into a page with wikitext, use two square brackets, "File:", the image name and file type, and then two square brackets to close it. This will create a basic inline image. To specify the width, add a pipe and the desired width, in pixels, suffixed with "px" (pixels) to the code; e.g. |100px. However, if you want to show a small image next to some text, you'll want to make it a thumbnail image. To do this, add a pipe and "thumb" to the code; e.g. |thumb. This will align your image to the right side of the page. To align it to the center or left, additionally add a pipe and "center" or "left"; e.g. |left. To easily add an inline image next to text, you can use the TextIcon template. Go to the template page for information on syntaxing. Lastly, if you want to add a caption to your image, add another pipe and the caption text. Templates Wiki templates accomplish various things, from allowing you to format text in some way or adding an information box. Most templates take what are called parameters, which are the bits of information you give the template so that it can output what you want. Templates begin with two curly brackets, the template name, and two curly brackets to end; e.g. . Parameters can be named or unnamed; unnamed parameters are simply inputed in the appropriate order (e.g. ), and named parameters are inputed with the name of the parameter, an equal sign, and the input (e.g. ). Parameters can be organized if desired into separate lines, but this does not affect function. Infoboxes The standard infobox template on the Moon Guard Wiki is one of the most often used templates, which creates a simple box with information on the right side of a page. To make an infobox in source mode, simply type . Adding Categories While even in source mode you can add categories in the visual UI, there is a way to add them in source if you do wish. At the bottom of the page, place two square brackets, "Category:", the category's name, and then close it with two more brackets; e.g. Category:Characters. Category:Blog posts